How the Medical Access Program Changed Stephen Guerrero’s Life for the Better
August 5, 2025
After being diagnosed with a serious and rare condition, this Austin resident found help through a program offered by Central Health
Leaving a local Austin hospital in April of last year, diagnosed with the rare condition Bell’s Palsy, Stephen Guerrero hopped in an Uber with his mind racing.
He had no insurance, no fallback resources, and knew he needed health care.
The lifelong Austin resident wasn’t quite sure where to turn.
That’s when his rideshare driver asked him a question.
“Have you looked into MAP?”
Guerrero had never even heard of Central Health’s Medical Access Program, a health option for Travis County residents with low-income, so naturally his first step was a web search. From there, he applied for the program, met with a Central Health enrollment specialist, and received his pink MAP card.
Within days, he scheduled his first appointment.
Guerrero says the moment changed his life.
“If I didn’t have MAP, if it wasn’t available, I would not have health care whatsoever,” he said. “I would have had to treat all these ailments on my own.”
“I thank God that I met that individual when I was coming out of the hospital. It was perfect timing.”
How one chance encounter changed a health outcome
Today, Guerrero is a different person than he was a year ago.
Shortly after enrolling in MAP and seeing a primary care physician at CommUnityCare Health Centers, he was referred to Dr. Andrea Fekete, a pulmonary specialist at the Rosewood-Zaragosa Specialty Clinic who, just years earlier, had trained at The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School and completed fellowships elsewhere before returning to Austin as faculty at Dell Med in the Division of Pulmonology.
During his time in pulmonary, he was also seen by Jennifer Engle, PA-C, who treated his sleep apnea and recommended the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (C-PAP) machine, which was covered by MAP.
And then, because Guerrero’s BMI and overall health condition fit guidelines designed for a new Central Health Medical Optimization Program aimed at combating chronic illness and obesity, he was referred to “Choose to Lose,” a new weight loss program which began at the start of 2025.
Stephen Guerrero’s pursuit of a healthier life
Guerrero took all these moments as signs—that this was his moment to act.
He channeled his body and mind through the four-month program, making the most of its educational opportunities and resources, which included outlets on mental health, exercise, and other daily routines. Weighing 337 pounds when the weight loss program began, Guerrero lost 17 pounds in 14 weeks.
Besides losing weight, Stephen also lowered his hemoglobin A1C (blood sugar) to a healthy level and learned how to manage his diet while also enjoying the food he was preparing.
In that journey toward better health—which included a major milestone when he turned 50— what he found was a comprehensive roadmap to a better life, one that included a healthier self and a better sense of his future.
He remains a MAP member and continues to see providers within the Central Health system.
“I’m getting the help I need,” he said.